Teen BFF Madness: Perfect Pals, Round Two

March Madness around these parts is always an exercise in surprise: I'm getting better at predicting which fandoms are the biggest and most fervent, but then some of them really take you by surprise. Which means that it's time to check out the newly updated bracket:

As you probably know by now, this week, we're looking at how the friendships between our beloved characters began.

According to World of Mages wiki (which I am so glad exists, for precisely this purpose), Simon met Penny "in their first year, as Simon was having troubles in their Magic Words class. She felt sorry for him as he was holding her wand backwards. Her mother had also told her to stay away from Simon because no one knew where he came from and he could be dangerous, which makes her want to be friends with Simon." Meanwhile, I'm not sure if Ferris and Cameron's initial meeting was ever explained, but as with every story in existence, fanfic exists to fill in the gaps! If you go with this story, Ferris and Cameron met when they were ten years old, horsing around during the summer.

Another friend group whose initial encounter was never quite explained, the internet speculates on how Angela came to start hanging out with Rayanne and Rickie. All we really know is that Sharon used to be Angela's bestie, until she started hanging out with Rayanne. Rickie, of course, is part and parcel of that deal, and an iconic 90s friendship was born. On the other hand, we know exactly how Mary, Cassandra, and Roland came to be friends: when Cassandra is banished to the American Eagle Christian High School, she and Roland start flirting. Mary, who has known Roland as Hilary Faye's brother, gets close to both of them when Roland and Cassandra figure out that she's pregnant...and don't judge her for it.

Do you know how Ponyboy and Johnny initially met? I assumed they were childhood friends, and Google doesn't contradict that belief. Of course, there's fanfic for that, too. When it comes to Freaks and Geeks, Sam, Neal, and Bill have been friends for awhile--unlike his older sister, Lindsay, who starts hanging out with new friends at the beginning of the show.

Oh, this matchup! I knew it would come to this, but why can't we keep both of these bestie sets and get rid of someone else? Karou and Zuzana met at the Art Lyceum of Bohemia, a private high school for artists, whereas Maddie and Queenie became friends on their military base, tricking a German pilot into landing in England instead of France. As Queenie notes, they make a sensational team.

About the Author:Jennie Kendrick lives in San Francisco and has an excessive fondness of historical fiction, spreadsheets, turquoise sparkly things, and bourbon. When she's not reading, writing, or writing about reading, she cooks obsessively, runs an Etsy shop, and thrifts for vintage everything.